A friend of mine sells an herbal mouthwash and and we were discussing kosher certification today.

As a contract packager in the past I've dealt with Kashrus agencies so I have some experience in handling kosher and kosher for Passover products.
But I never got the ball rolling myself, the company was already established with the agencies that inspected.

I guess my questions are really:
1) How hard is it to get the ball rolling?
2) Does mouthwash have to be certifed since it's not really ingested? How is the Law interpeted regarding that in general?
3) Is Kosher product still a growing market like it was about 4 years ago. When I was in contract packaging it was growing pretty fast.
4) do you think he'd want to make 'Kosher for Passover' batches as well if he was to gain kosher cert?

And how about halal as long as were talking about dietary laws?

Are there any competitors that have kosher certification?

I am not sure if a kosher symbol on mouthwash would lead to increased sales but there may be a market.

I searched "mouthwash" on oukosher.org and there were a few entries.

If your friend is serious about kosher certification, he should contact a kosher certification group.

Scott,

As far as I know, It does not have to be digestable to be Kosher.
Shoes made of Pigskin are not Kosher.

New jersey has one of the largest Jewish communities, so it shouldn't be hard to get more info on this issue.

The basic reasoning is that as Mouthwash goes in the mouth it is ingested even if in a minute amount.
If it is worth it, is a matter of market, simple cost benefit analysis.

And how about halal as long as were talking about dietary laws?It's similar, but not identical.

And how about halal as long as were talking about dietary laws?

Kosher and Halal both have the same roots...From what I've been told, the story goes it all started with a guy named Moses while walking in the desert with a few friends a few years back.

Kosher and Halal both have the same roots...From what I've been told, the story goes it all started with a guy named Moses while walking in the desert with a few friends a few years back.:topic:It happened in Leviticus.

:topic:It happened in Leviticus.


Yes, I know, I can quote much of it and I just didn't want to stray into dangerous territory.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
It's not an issue at this point but it just came up during conversation about his batcher and packager. Right now he does mail order business and is in a few independant health food stores.

Plus there are not too many threads on these forums about kosher and halal processing/packaging/certification so I figured I'd open it up a bit.

It did not start with Moses, it was specifically written into the Torah by the Almighty Quality Person :)

Though mouthwash should be kosher, unless you are marketing to the ultra-orthodox Jews I would not think it is a huge issue. Regardless, there are several "levels" of kosher (if you can believe it!). You have the OU, K, OK, KO, etc. So you have to decide which certification to go for.....

It did not start with Moses, it was specifically written into the Torah by the Almighty Quality Person :)

Though mouthwash should be kosher, unless you are marketing to the ultra-orthodox Jews I would not think it is a huge issue. Regardless, there are several "levels" of kosher (if you can believe it!). You have the OU, K, OK, KO, etc. So you have to decide which certification to go for.....

I was unaware of more than two "levels".
I've only dealt with 'kosher' and 'kosher for passover', for the latter a Rabbi had to be present during the whole packaging operation (these were food flavorings like vanilla extract, etc. mostly parve, some dairy).